Today the Catholic Church celebrates the memory of St. Ambrose, the brilliant Bishop of Milan who influenced St. Augustine’s conversion and was named a Doctor of the Church. Like Augustine himself, the older Ambrose, born around 340, was a highly educated man who sought to harmonize Greek and Roman intellectual …

I attended a funeral a couple months ago. The dear lady who passed away was 90 and she clearly had been treasured by the large number of family and friends present. Between the grief among the congregation and my close proximity to the casket during Mass, the reality of death …